Orphans First Prayer Requests April 24th, 2002

Dear Prayer Friends,

        Satan has set up two strategies to prevent us praying for the
children.  First, he tries to harden our hearts, making us indifferent,
careless and insensitive.  He does this by either wounding us so that we
withdraw to protect our own hearts from further pain, or just causing us to
become callous because there is just too much pain to deal with, so we
emotionally cut out, so to speak.  The second thing he does is to make us
depressed.  He makes us feel that it's impossible to change things, that
our prayers will make no difference, that the pain is overwhelming and God
will do nothing to change it.  This is a lie.  God does care for the
children, and He wants us to collaborate with Him to effectuate their
deliverance through prayer.  Your prayers change history. 

         Drawing from life's lessons serves to cultivate compassion.  Sad
situations become redemptive when we let them work brokenness in our
hearts.  Today we said goodbye to our old German Shepherd dog, Princess,
and put her down.  Her dying was not painful, but her apprehension of dying
was.  The vet took so long to inject, that her  eyes darted in fear,
sensing something wasn't right.. It was sad.  And as sadness cloaked my
mood, I let my imagination loose to dwell on greater pains, more urgent
issues.  I thought again of VALERY in St. Pete, Russia, waiting for someone
to adopt him.  Abandonned on the streets at only 8 years old, we cannot
imagine his fear.  And his fear even now as he hears talk of moving to
another orphanage as "there's no-one come to adopt him".  Please pray for
him.

        I thought of the many children I knew and loved  in Bombay, India
who were still on the streets.  I'd worked hard to rais support for them,
and to help create an orphanage for them.  I'd come up with supporters, but
for whatever reason, now so many are back in the streets, and few remain in
the home.  Many weep and struggle to survive again.  And I don't know how
to help them.  Thankfully, for the children remaining in the home, the work
is going strong, and finances have been provided to build a large
orphanage.  The problem, in this case, is not material but spiritual. 
There is so much spiritual warfare and cultural complications for these
children. Things don't always turn out the way we hope because of factors
we cannot understand.   Please pray for these children, and for the
children in our large orphanage in Guntur, as well as for the older
children who've now left the orphanage there.  Pray specifically for
Nanibabu, and for Bramhon..

        Another of life's tender lessons has been drawn from my two 6 week
old kittens.  They play together every moment.  They snug up  together to
sleep---in our bed ("Who do they think they are?" my husband says).  And
yet the the timing is drawing nigh when we must separate them and give one
away.  A sweet have family with children is ready to adopt one.  But which
one? How hard to separate them.  This reminds me of the millions of
children separated from siblings or parents, suffering from that terrible
anquish of being "apart".   Yes, there are so many suffering CHILDREN
everywhere.  Our prayers do and will make the difference.  So we must not
give up praying.  We must neither let our hearts become hard nor depressed,
but must plod on in faith and obedience------------PRAYING for the
children.

PRAY SPECIFICALLY
        ADOPTIONS - Pray for the many children still waiting to be adopted,
some of whom are pining away in despair.  
        FRANCE - Pray for our teens and young people in France who've been
struck by a wave of rebellion, temptation and sin.  Pray also for our HIGH
SCHOOL, under attack.  Pray we can open an International Christian School
next year by a miracle of God, or that God would provide in some other way
for our son's education (now 14) and the other church high schoolers. (The
Primary School is fine, thank God).  
        GROWTH - for O.F. to reach many, many more needy children.

."Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child.  If thou afflict
them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their
cry; and my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword;  etc.
(Ex.22: 22-24).

Thanking you, and trusting God,

Janey L. DeMeo

Founder/director of Orphans First, freelance writer.
ORPHANS FIRST website:  http://www.OrphansFirst.org/
E mail:  janey@...
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